The Ninth Symphony was Beethoven's mightiest attempt to help humanity find its way from darkness to light, from chaos to peace, notes music historian Harvey Sachs—a response to an era of revolution, conquest, and repression. It was so unorthodox that it amazed and confused listeners at its 1824 premiere, described by Sachs in vibrant detail, yet it became a symbol of creative genius for subsequent generations of artists. Here Sachs uses the Ninth as a prism to view an epochal year, in which Lord Byron died attempting to free Greece from the Ottomans, Pushkin began to draft his anti-authoritarian play Boris Godunov, and Stendhal and Heine wrote works that mocked conventional ways of thinking.

"Through detailed musical analysis and condensed readings of cultural politics and 19th-century history, Sachs ponders what role so-called high culture played, plays, and ought to play in civilization. Using the year 1824 and the premiere of the Ninth as ground zero, Sachs reviews the literary, artistic, and social movements of the time, noting how Beethoven's innovative symphony (the first with a vocal score) and its themes of equality and redemption no doubt challenged the resurgent conservatism among Europe's monarchies.... After first presenting the Ninth as a Viennese social event and then as emblematic of Beethoven's artistic process, Sachs shines with a close reading of the Ninth's musical score, interpreting its techniques and emotive narrative. Readers will want a recording nearby. In the book's last chapter, Sachs deals with the impact and legacy of Beethoven's masterwork and explains what makes his music universal."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)